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Aargh…. I need a lie down. In the old Peter Sellers Pink Panther films his boss (played by Herbert Lom) started to twitch and his symptoms got worse as the films went on, eventually going crazy. I feel like that with this story. I already have restless legs and sleep apnoea don’t make me any...

Ian Niven was the man who wanted Allison back and it was that obsession with Big Mal that caused crazy decisions to be made. How to ruin a club!

At the time Mal boasted about the deal and told us that he’d done the deal. It was only in later years, when it was obvious that it had all gone wrong that he changed his story. When I interviewed Swales I asked him about that and he said that as chairman he takes full responsibility for any...

Today is a significant anniversary in the perception of City as a spending club… on this day in 1979 City broke the transfer record by signing Steve Daley for over £1.4m - it was an incredible amount. The media focused on City’s spending (as they do today) but there were some articles that...

The photo was by City fan Emma Tamara Taylor and she allowed me to borrow it for one of my books. It was a sit down protest on the Kippax.

Flat caps were certainly the norm: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/03/03/a-national-record-84569/

I did an interview with Mike Sweeney about the place: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/08/25/maine-road-interview-on-radio-manchester/

Over the last 100 days I’ve been posting a free article/feature on Maine Road with images, stories etc about the old place. This ends today of course. The first post was: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/05/18/maine-road-100-day-1/ The last post is...

Lots of factors behind it. As a historian interested in the social history of Manchester one area I’ve looked at is on the slum clearance programme of the 60s in east Manchester which pushed City’s support from Gorton, Bradford etc and pushed it out to new estates in Hattersley, Gamesley and...

Who scored more goals for MCFC’s first team at Maine Road than anybody else? The answer: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/08/20/maine-road-100-day-95-answer/

He‘ll never accept it but the metalwork and measurements match one of Hyde Rd’s other roofs that survived as a factory in Sale (since demolished).

Hyde Road’s last League game was City v Newcastle. Here’s a piece on that including some of the match programme for that game: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/08/19/maine-road-100-bonus-article/

Today’s free Maine Rd article is about the man who played in more first team games than anyone else at the old stadium. Enjoy: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/08/19/maine-road-100-day-94/

The Sydney stadium where tomorrow’s women’s World Cup final will be looks a lot like the Etihad too.

Great. Thanks. There are lots of free articles to enjoy on my website: https://gjfootballarchive.com/category/free/ There‘s extra stuff for subscribers too, including PDFs of my first book (From Maine Men To Banana Citizens), Manchester A Football History and I’m serialising Farewell To Maine...

Today’s free Maine Rd 100 article is a piece about attendances at the old place. A few myths busted perhaps! Enjoy: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/08/18/manchester-citys-average-attendances-through-history/

I thought you’d never ask. Done (or at least I’m waiting for you to approve my request). Cheers

Charlie Pringle, married Meredith’s daughter (but not the daughter I interviewed). Basically, the book claimed that Meredith had an enduring quarrel with City but that wasn’t true. His enduring quarrel was with United who he claimed, right up until his death, had never paid him the full amount...

Correct Tomy Book managed City v Liverpool.

The 92nd daily post in my series of 100 free Maine Road articles counting down to the centenary of the old ground’s first game had just been posted. This one’s on the Kippax. Enjoy: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/08/17/maine-road-100-day-92/ The other 91 features have covered a variety of...